McDonald's Reveals Major New Value Menu Will Arrive in 2025
Over the past few months, McDonald's has worked to address consumer outcry over rising fast-food prices by launching a $5 Meal Deal and highlighting the myriad of local promotions available throughout the country. Now, bargain-hungry McDonald's customers have another reason to get excited: a whole new value menu will soon debut at the fast-food giant.
McDonald's executives unveiled plans to launch a "holistic value menu" during an Oct. 29 earnings call following the release of their latest quarterly results. According to McDonald's CFO Ian Borden, the menu should become available in the first quarter of 2025—just a few months away from now.
Company leaders were pretty tight-lipped about what the new menu will entail, though CEO Chris Kempzinski mentioned that it will need to have some sort of meal deal component, incorporate digital offers, and feature prices low enough to entice customers into restaurants.
He also said that the new American value menu might look something like the value platforms at McDonald's restaurants around the world, such as Australia's McSmart Menu or Great Britain's Saver Menu. (The Saver Menu features a variety of burgers, chicken sandwiches, sides, and desserts, though prices for these items are not listed online).
When contacted by Eat This, Not That!, McDonald's declined to share additional details about the new American value menu and how it will differ from the $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu already available at its restaurants. The $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu, which replaced McDonald's classic Dollar Menu, originally featured a variety of meal and side items that ranged from $1 to $3 in price, per CNN.
However, customers have been complaining recently that the $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menus at their local McDonald's lack anything that's just $1 (The cheapest $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu item at my local McDonald's in central New Jersey is a $1.89 Sausage Biscuit, while everything else is above $2). As it crafts the new value menu set to roll out in 2025, McDonald's may have the opportunity to address some of these criticisms.
McDonald's announced its value menu plans during a tumultuous time for the company. After seeing a rare decline in its U.S. same-store sales earlier this year, McDonald's rebounded with a slight 0.3% increase last quarter. However, a major E. coli outbreak linked to the slivered onions in Quarter Pounder burgers caused sales and traffic to drop in mid-October.
During the earnings call, Borden said they believe the worst of the outbreak is "behind us" and they're currently focused on winning back the trust of consumers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak has so far killed one, hospitalized 22, and sickened 75 people in total.
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